By Debbie Gregory.

The U.S. military used Agent Orange to clear plants and trees during the Vietnam War. A number of serious illnesses have been linked to exposure, including Leukemia, Hodgkin’s Disease, various cancers, diabetes and Parkinson’s Disease. Researchers with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine found have found that enough evidence exists to also link hypertension and monoclonal gammopathy (MGUS) to Agent Orange exposure.

Their report, entitled Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 11 (2018), found that sufficient evidence exists that links exposure to at least one of the hazardous chemicals with hypertension and MGUS The hypertension finding is an upgrade from their 2014 report and MGUS is a newly considered condition.

The findings clear the way for veterans with hypertension and MGUS to have easier access to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits.

Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) and the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) called on VA Secretary Robert Wilkie to add hypertension and MGUS to the list of diseases presumed to be caused by Agent Orange.

“There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that Agent Orange made veterans sick, it made their children sick, and it brought pain and suffering and premature death to many,” VFW National Commander B.J. Lawrence said in a statement. “We now call on VA Secretary Robert Wilkie to use his authority and recognize the science in the report to swiftly add these two illnesses to the presumptive list so that these veterans can finally receive the assistance they earned and deserve.”

Wilkie has previously opposed legislation that would provide Agent Orange benefits to tens of thousands of Navy veterans who served on ships off the coast during the Vietnam War and have been diagnosed with MGUS.

Veterans who served in Vietnam, in Thailand or along the Korean DMZ are encouraged to contact a VFW Service Officer to discuss whether they are eligible to file a VA claim for Agent Orange exposure.

By Debbie Gregory.

On May 17^th, the Department of Veterans Affairs inked a 10-year, $10 billion contract with Kansas City, Missouri-based Cerner Corp. to adopt the same commercial electronic health records system as the Pentagon.

“President Trump has made very clear to me that he wants this contract to do right by both Veterans and taxpayers, and I can say now without a doubt that it does,” said Veterans Affairs Acting Secretary Robert Wilkie. He continued, “Signing this contract today is an enormous win for our nation’s veterans. It puts in place a modern IT system that will support the best possible health care for decades to come. That’s exactly what our nation’s heroes deserve.”

The department received nearly $800 million in funding from Congress for fiscal 2018 to begin the contract.

“For too long, service members transitioning from the Department of Defense to VA healthcare have been unable to take their medical records with them,” said Rep. Tim Walz, ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee.

Cerner President Zane Burke said in a statement that the company is honored to have the opportunity to improve the health care experience for our nation’s veterans.

“The VA has a long history of pioneering health care technology innovation, and we look forward to helping deliver high-quality outcomes across the continuum of care,” said Burke. “We expect this program to be a positive catalyst for interoperability across the public and private health care sectors, and we look forward to moving quickly with organizations across the industry to deliver on the promise of this mission.”